Powerful branding is expensive. The kind of branding that identifies a person or organization so well that it’s like a “thumbprint.” Recognizable immediately by style, uniqueness, etc.

It’s expensive in capital or time (or both). To inspire clients to want to wear & carry branded things requires an extraordinary marketing budget. For mid-market and smaller companies (or individuals) it makes more sense to have one or more people create personal brands that are with an organization. The outlay of money & time is greatly reduced while yielding net new revenue (or increasing whatever metric is meaningful).

The attached image is from the mat at a gym – it’s the imprint from my Twitter Fabric t-shirt (Twitter’s mobile development suite). I got up from the mat and saw the imprint when I was cleaning up after myself. I loved seeing the Twitter logo so much, I snapped a photo. When a person feels pleasure at wearing or carrying something because they identify with what a brand stands for – that is economic power. Individuals (solopreneurs, artists, self-employed individuals) can & should create brands that yield economic power. Making money is going to look very different in 7 & 12 years. Being associated with or having a powerful brand will directly impact quality of life.